Entry 2: Bilingual Student Interview
This week I interviewed a friend who learned English through Katy ISD's ESL program. Her first language is Spanish and she began learning English in kindergarten and went through the program until she was in the forth grade. She found phonology easiest while learning English. She could quickly pick up the sounds of words but she had trouble with syntax which falls in line with what Wright states English language learners have difficulty with (2015). This could be due to the difference in word order between Spanish and English. After the video we talked about how orange juice in spanish is jugo de naranja. Literally translated it means juice from oranges and the sentence structure is flipped from English.
Her teachers went with a naturalistic approach by speaking English and giving her activities to learn English (Wright, 2015). One of her teachers would give her note cards with the word sounds to help her pronounce them. The same teacher would also give her note cards with one word on each card. She would then have to place the cards in the correct order to create a sentence. She found these activities to be extremely useful to her. Unfortunately, the program she was in did not allow her to speak Spanish and she would be considered subtractive bilingual (Wright, 2015). Her experiences through the ESL program is a prime example of Title III of ESEA. It requires schools to teach English and academic content while native language is non compulsory (Wright, 2015).
Wright, W. (2015). Foundations for teaching english: research, theory, practice, policy, and practice (2nd ed.) Philadelphia: Caslon.
Hey Veronica! I can see why the arrangement of sentences would be the most difficult for any ESL student because of the way something is said in English seems like the complete opposite when pronouncing it. The ESL may understand the meaning of the word but when it comes down to the sentence structure, it could completely confuse them and possibly change the mean to certain phrases. According to Wright, “Knowing the meaning of these individual words is not sufficient to understand the different meanings conveyed by these sentences” (Wright, 2015, p. 33). They way that she explained how her teacher’s methods with the tape recorder and the workbooks seemed like a simple and natural ways for the student to understand the material. Wright suggested the natural approach “used a wide variety of techniques, such as total physical response (TPR), ample visuals and realia, small-group work, and any other activities involving meaningful communication that can facilitate the provision of comprehensible input” (Wright, 2015, p. 61).
ReplyDeleteIt is true understanding word is not enough grasp what is meant when it is said. For example, we commonly use the phrase, "It's raining cats and dogs," to mean it is raining hard but to someone who is learning English it would make no sense to them. Pragmatics, the study of language from the point of view of the users, is important to understanding this idiom, metaphors, similes, and other literary devices (Ortega, 2013).
DeleteWright, W. (2015). Foundations for teaching english: research, theory, practice, policy, and practice (2nd ed.) Philadelphia: Caslon.
Hello Veronica! I enjoyed watching you video. After reading the reflection it seems that she was placed in the traditional English as a Second Language classroom according to Wright (2010). Even though the instruction is given in the students native language they want the student learn English as fast as possible which often leads the student into losing some of their first language and completely learning English. Students in this program have to stay caught up to the students in the mainstream classrooms. This program allows the students to be placed in a classroom where the students learn English at their pace, instead of being dropped into an all-English classroom where the student can get upset (Wright, 2010). This program has its pros and cons as does any program, but they all strive to achieve one goal, which is to teach the student English as a Second Language.
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2010. Print. First Edition.
Hi Shirin! Thank you for watching the video and I'm glad you enjoyed it. You are right, their goal is to teach the student English, but I think they could go about it a different way. Instead of using the English as a Second Language (ESL)program, they should try Sheltered Instruction, or specifically designed academic instruction in English (SDAIE). The goal of SDAIE is to teach academic content while the ESL goal is to teach English. While English is important for them to learn, it may be harder for them to understand content because they don't understand the language.
DeleteWright, W. (2015). Foundations for teaching english: research, theory, practice, policy, and practice (2nd ed.) Philadelphia: Caslon.
Hi Veronica, I liked hearing about the experience of your friend you interviewed. As future teachers, the information that these former ELLs are able to give us is incredibly useful. The idea of using notecards to help supplement the learning experience is one that I will definitely take into my own classroom. The ideas that she experienced do resemble the natural approach by seemingly lowering the affective filter to allow the students to feel a significantly less amount of pressure (Wright, 2015, p. 61). Inversely, the program seemed to disallow her to speak her native language, which we have also realized is a bad habit that teachers often practice.
ReplyDeleteReference:
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub.
I agree with Wright’s idea of natural approach when it comes to teaching ELL students another language. However, it can also apply with anything that is being taught. The natural approach emphasizes the concept of natural learning through meaningful encounters (Wright, 2015, p.61). Rather than memorizing the material, when students interact and learn through experience then they are applying what they have learned. Without meaningful interactions, the students will only memorize words for assignments, but then forget everything soon after.
DeleteHi Brandon! I too liked the different ways the teacher taught my friend English. I think the main reason I liked it was because she seemed excited remembering the notecards and the other activities. It was her fourth grade teacher who implemented these activities and after that year she was moved out of the ESL program. It was also during this year she was allowed to speak Spanish in the classroom but by then she had already lost a lot of the language. Her teacher provided a lot of scaffolding to help her learn English (Wright, 2015).
DeleteWright, W. (2015). Foundations for teaching english: research, theory, practice, policy, and practice (2nd ed.) Philadelphia: Caslon.
Hi Kimberly! I think the natural approach should also be combined with language socialization. As you said, students should learn through meaningful encounters and I believe language socialization highlights this goal. After all, language socialization pertains to "'the process by which individuals acquire the knowledge and practices that enable them to participate effectively in a language community'" (Wright, 2015). Through language socialization, students learn the unofficial rules of English from peers and make meaningful connections to the real world.
DeleteWright, W. (2015). Foundations for teaching english: research, theory, practice, policy, and practice (2nd ed.) Philadelphia: Caslon.